Yep, it’s that time of year again. Dice Upon A Time has been transitioning over to the Oak Hill RPG Club HQ for a while now, so check in via the link above to see our thoughts on this year’s RPGaDay.
We encourage you to check out our Highlander: The Duel Unboxing video, posted above for your viewing pleasure.
I was a huge fan of the Highlander Collectible Card Game back in the 90s and loved the narrative structure of the game and the mechanics involved. It did a fair job of simulating a theatrical/fantasy sword fight. It was a lot of fun, but, unfortunately there weren’t too many people interested in it in my neck of the woods.
This game does not appear to be nearly as engaging, but we’ll give it a spin just the same.
Honestly, we backed the game for the minis and they delivered.
Now, a brief note on the scarcity of our online presence of late. My father has been in hospice care for a month and struggling with stage four cancer since last October. It has been a real roller coaster with him and…
Just a quick note. We’ve been playtesting No Quarter for a couple of months, slowly rolling out the rule tweaks to get everyone acclimated to this next grand adventure, but I also have been planning a nostalgia campaign that I’ll be launching late this Fall.
This is my 40th year of playing D&D and I wanted to acknowledge that with a throwback game, something that would honor where it all began for us. The obvious choice was to tackle B1-B2 for old times sake. That is where we started, but instead I settled on the Village of Hommlet.
It’s a great “throwback” module, one that has achieved that “legendary” status among us, and revisiting it will feel a lot like coming home. My players are excited for the chance to return to one of their all-time favorites.
But what my players don’t know is that I’m using that game to…
A whole slew of RPG and HEMA-themed shirts are now available on AMAZON, and at reasonable prices. Check ’em out if you’re so inclined. I mean, heck, you’ve got to wear something, why not one (or more) of these?
Utilizing NPCs to educate new players and to entice new and old players to roleplay is something that should be in every Dungeon Master’s Bag of Tricks. In the latest episode of Dice Upon A Time, Bob and Connor discuss their various approaches, offering DMs plenty of food for thought.
There is no greater tool for a DM than a host of Non-Player Characters, be they a one-off merchant stranded on the road with a busted axle or a reoccurring noblewoman who is constantly meddling in the party’s affairs.
NPCs bring life to a DM’s world. Their actions, in many ways, dictate those of the players. Through interactions with them, your players learn the subtleties of the world you’re creating. Whether on the small stage or in the spotlight, dead center, each and every encounter with an NPC is an opportunity to encourage roleplay, to develop sub and main plotlines…
Let’s be honest, if you’re looking for bit of cinematic inspiration in the fantasy genre, as in sword and sorcery, you’ll be hard-pressed to find much worth while. Oh, sure, one could point to Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth hexalogy or HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire, both of which are amazingly rendered (although a departure from the source materials), but beyond that, where do you turn?
Here are my Top Picks that excluded both of those franchises:
10. Hawk the Slayer
I will be the first to admit, this thing is terrible, but when I was a kid, catching Hawk the Slayer on late night tv was a dream come true for someone who had only been playing D&D for two years or so. It’s a Dungeons & Dragons campaign come to life. Admittedly a bad campaign, but nevertheless, this was a thrill then and…
We posted a new video on our youtube channel — Experience (A Response to Big 20). If you haven’t already, please like and subscribe.
We’d also like to share with you these cool tabletop t-shirt designs, available now through Amazon. Each is reasonably priced, well-made, a comfortable fit, and comes in an array of colors. Available in Mens and Womens sizes to boot.
My personal favorite (but unfortunately not available in my size, but then I am a larger than life-size man) is the Roll ‘Em If Ya Got ‘Em tee. It comes in Asphalt, Black, Brown, Olive, and Pink (which I really think is hands down the most smashingly awesome).
It’s the priciest at just under $14.99, but the other shirts are all under $14. They are Dice in Alignment (Black, Brown, Navy, Pink, and Heather Grey), Visor Down (Black, Navy, Heather Grey, Heather Blue, and Asphalt), Live…
Oak Hill Dungeon Master Bob Freeman is also an author and this week he is promoting his latest work, First Born: Tales of the Liber Monstrorum, with a blog tour.
If you enjoy occult fiction, you might want to follow along. Bob’s Liber Monstrorum stories have been described as a cross between Dr. Strange and the X-Files. One thing’s for certain, he honed his considerable writing talents from spending 40 years behind a DM Screen.
We’ll update the links below as the events go live.
His name is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, sometimes called the Dúnadan, Longshanks, Wingfoot, Elessar Telcontar, Envinyatar, Estel, or Thorongil.
But to me, he is just Strider and I fell in love with the character when I was a wee lad of 12 or so when I first cracked open The Fellowship of the Ring.
Today is his birthday, born on the 1st of March in the 2931st year of the Third Age. It’s my birthday too, though I was born in 1966th year of the Common Era. I have always felt honored to share a birthday with him, despite him supposedly being a fictional character and all.
Happy Birthday, Strider. Thanks for inspiring me for the past 40 years. Here’s to 40 more…